Suggestion of visual effects based on detected sound patterns

ABSTRACT

Disclosed embodiments provide techniques for suggesting a visual effect based on detected sounds. The sounds can be speech and/or music. Tempo and song identification techniques may be used to determine criteria for selecting visual effects to present to a user. The user selects a visual effect from the suggested visual effects and applies the visual effect to an image acquired by a camera. A modified image that combines the original acquired image with the visual effect is transmitted to another user during communication such as video chat, or, alternatively, the modified image may be posted to a social media account.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to video communication, and moreparticularly, to suggestion of visual effects based on detected soundpatterns.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, communication via video chat applications hasdramatically increased. The reduced cost of data communications, coupledwith increasingly more powerful devices has made communication by videochat accessible to many people throughout the world. Additionally, theproliferation of social media has made sharing images such as photos andvideos quick and convenient. As sharing of images through video chatand/or social media has increased in popularity, it is desirable to haveimprovements in the customization of these shared images.

SUMMARY

In an aspect of the disclosed embodiments, there is provided acomputer-implemented method for providing a suggested visual effectbased on a detected sound pattern, comprising: receiving a sound signalfrom a microphone coupled to a computing device; detecting a soundpattern within the sound signal; selecting a visual effect from aplurality of visual effects in a visual effects library; and presentingthe visual effect as a selectable option in a user interface on thecomputing device.

In another aspect, there is provided a computer system comprising: aprocessor; a microphone; a camera; a memory coupled to the processor,the memory containing instructions, that when executed by the processor,perform the steps of: receiving a sound signal from the microphone;detecting a sound pattern within the sound signal; selecting a visualeffect from a plurality of visual effects in a visual effects library;presenting the visual effect as a selectable option in a user interfaceon the computing device; and applying the visual effect to an imageobtained by the camera upon selection of the presented visual effect.

In another aspect, there is provided a computer program product forproviding a suggested visual effect based on a detected sound patternfor an electronic computing device comprising a computer readablestorage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, theprogram instructions executable by a processor to cause the electronicdevice to: receive a sound signal from a microphone coupled to acomputing device; detect a sound pattern within the sound signal; selecta visual effect from a plurality of visual effects in a visual effectslibrary; and present the visual effect as a selectable option in a userinterface on the computing device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features of the disclosed embodiments will be more readily understoodfrom the following detailed description of the various aspects of theinvention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a device in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart indicating process steps for embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart indicating process steps for embodiments of thepresent invention using speech detection.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart indicating process steps for embodiments of thepresent invention using music tempo detection.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart indicating process steps for embodiments of thepresent invention using song identification.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram for a system in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention.

FIG. 7A is an example illustrating presentation of effects based on aspeech detection process.

FIG. 7B is an example showing application of an effect presented in FIG.7A.

FIG. 8 is an example illustrating presentation of effects based on amusic tempo detection process.

FIG. 9A is an example illustrating presentation of effects based on asong identification process.

FIG. 9B is an example showing application of an effect presented in FIG.9A.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale. The drawings are merelyrepresentations, not necessarily intended to portray specific parametersof the invention. The drawings are intended to depict only exampleembodiments of the invention, and therefore should not be considered aslimiting in scope. In the drawings, like numbering may represent likeelements. Furthermore, certain elements in some of the figures may beomitted, or illustrated not-to-scale, for illustrative clarity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed embodiments provide techniques for suggesting a visual effectbased on detected sounds. The sounds can be speech and/or music. Tempoand song identification techniques may be used to determine criteria forselecting visual effects to present to a user. The user selects a visualeffect from the suggested visual effects and applies the visual effectto an image acquired by a camera. A modified image that combines theoriginal acquired image with the visual effect is transmitted to anotheruser during communication such as video chat, or alternatively, themodified image may be posted to a social media account.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of this disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. Furthermore, the use of the terms “a”, “an”, etc., do notdenote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of atleast one of the referenced items. It will be further understood thatthe terms “comprises” and/or “comprising”, or “includes” and/or“including”, when used in this specification, specify the presence ofstated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “some embodiments”, or similar language means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of thepresent invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,”“in an embodiment,” “in some embodiments”, and similar languagethroughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer tothe same embodiment.

Moreover, the described features, structures, or characteristics of theinvention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious modifications and variations can be made to the presentinvention without departing from the spirit and scope and purpose of theinvention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover themodifications and variations of this invention provided they come withinthe scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. Reference willnow be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a device 100 in accordance with embodimentsof the present invention. Device 100 is an electronic computing device.Device 100 includes a processor 102, which is coupled to a memory 104.Memory 104 may include dynamic random access memory (DRAM), staticrandom access memory (SRAM), magnetic storage, and/or a read only memorysuch as flash, EEPROM, optical storage, or other suitable memory. Insome embodiments, the memory 104 may not be a transitory signal per se.

Device 100 may further include storage 106. In embodiments, storage 106may include one or more magnetic storage devices such as hard diskdrives (HDDs). In some embodiments, storage 106 may include one or moresolid state drives (SSDs).

The memory 104 and storage 106 together provide memory for multipleapplications to execute on processor 102. In embodiments, device 100 mayhave multiple processors 102, and/or multiple cores per processor. Thedevice 100 may execute an operating system that provides virtual memorymanagement for the device 100. The processor 102 may have one or morecache memories therein. Memory 104 stores instructions, which whenexecuted by the processor, implement the steps of the present invention.

Device 100 further includes a user interface 108, examples of whichinclude a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display, a cathode raytube (CRT) display, a light emitting diode (LED) display, an organic LED(OLED) display, or other suitable display technology. The user interface108 may further include a keyboard, mouse, or other suitable humaninterface device. In some embodiments, user interface 108 may be a touchscreen, incorporating a capacitive or resistive touch screen in someembodiments.

The device 100 further includes a communication interface 110. In someembodiments, the communication interface 110 may be a wiredcommunication interface that includes Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, or thelike. In embodiments, the communication interface 110 may include awireless communication interface that includes modulators, demodulators,and antennas for a variety of wireless protocols including, but notlimited to, Bluetooth™, Wi-Fi, and/or cellular communication protocolsfor communication over a computer network.

The device 100 further includes a microphone 112 and a camera 114. Insome embodiments, the device 100 may include multiple cameras and/ormicrophones. In embodiments, the camera 114 is a user-facing camera,allowing device 100 to be used for applications such as video chat, livestreaming, and other social media applications. During a use of thedevice for video chat, the camera 114 may be used to record video of theuser while microphone 112 records ambient sounds, including the voice ofthe user.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart 200 indicating process steps for embodiments ofthe present invention. At process step 250, a sound signal is received.The sound signal may be received from a microphone that is integratedinto the device 100. In some embodiments, the sound signal may bereceived from an external microphone that is coupled to the device 100through a wired or wireless connection. In process step 252, a soundpattern is detected. In process step 254, a visual effect is selectedbased on the detected sound pattern. In process step 256, the visualeffect is presented to the user. If the user decides to use the effect,the effect is applied in process step 258.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart 300 indicating process steps for embodiments ofthe present invention using speech detection. This is a more specificcase of the general flow outlined in FIG. 2. At process step 350, asound signal is received. The sound signal may be received from amicrophone that is integrated into the device 100. In some embodiments,the sound signal may be received from an external microphone that iscoupled to the device 100 through a wired or wireless connection. Inprocess step 352, a sound pattern is detected. In process step 354, thesound pattern is detected as human speech. In process step 356, aspeech-to-text process is performed to convert the sound pattern into atext string. In process step 358, keywords are extracted from the textstring. The keyword extraction can include a variety ofcomputer-implemented text processing techniques, including, but notlimited to, indexing, concordance, stop word processing, bigramprocessing, dispersion analysis, lexical richness analysis (ratio ofdistinct words to total words), disambiguation, part-of-speech analysis,and/or anaphora resolution (the process of identifying what a pronoun ornoun phrase refers to). In process step 360, a visual effect is selectedbased on the detected keywords. This may include using the keywords tosearch a library of visual effects. In embodiments, each visual effecthas associated metadata. Effects with metadata that is deemed relevantto the keywords may be selected. For example, if a detected keyword is“birthday,” then visual effects with metadata related to birthdays canbe selected for presentation to the user. In process step 362, thevisual effect is presented to the user. If the user selects an option touse the effect, the effect is applied in process step 364. Thus, inembodiments, detecting a sound pattern comprises detecting human speech.Furthermore, embodiments can include performing a speech-to-text processon the human speech to derive a text string, extracting keywords fromthe text string, and where selecting a visual effect from a plurality ofvisual effects in a visual effects library includes performing a queryof the visual effects library using the extracted keywords.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart 400 indicating process steps for embodiments ofthe present invention using music tempo detection. This is a morespecific case of the general flow outlined in FIG. 2. At process step450, a sound signal is received. The sound signal may be received from amicrophone that is integrated into the device 100. In some embodiments,the sound signal may be received from an external microphone that iscoupled to the device 100 through a wired or wireless connection. Inprocess step 452, a sound pattern is detected. In process step 454, thesound pattern is detected as music. In process step 456, a tempoanalysis is performed on the music. If the music is rhythmic, a tempocan be detected based on beat detection. The beat detection may includeidentifying periodic peaks in the amplitude of the music. Not all musicis rhythmic, so in some cases, no tempo may be detected. In process step458, a visual effect is selected based on the detected tempo. In someembodiments, a visual effect is selected when the tempo is above apredetermined threshold. In some embodiments, the predeterminedthreshold is 130 beats per minute (bpm). Thus, when music has a tempohigher than 130 bpm, it is assumed to be fast-paced dance music, andvisual effects corresponding to fast-paced dance music may be selected.In process step 460, the visual effect is presented to the user. If theuser decides to use the effect, the effect is applied in process step462. Thus, in embodiments, detecting a sound pattern comprises detectingmusic. Furthermore, embodiments include performing a tempo detectionprocess on the music to detect a tempo, and where selecting a visualeffect from a plurality of visual effects in a visual effects librarycomprises performing a query of the visual effects library using thedetected tempo.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart 500 indicating process steps for embodiments ofthe present invention using song identification. This is a more specificcase of the general flow outlined in FIG. 2. At process step 550, asound signal is received. The sound signal may be received from amicrophone that is integrated into the device 100. In some embodiments,the sound signal may be received from an external microphone that iscoupled to the device 100 through a wired or wireless connection. Inprocess step 552, a sound pattern is detected. In process step 554, thesound pattern is detected as music.

In process step 556, a song identification process is performed on themusic. This may include extracting a portion of the detected music intoa signal format such as an amplitude plot and/or frequency plot. In someembodiments, the signal format may be a pulse coded modulation (PCM)format. The signal format may then be compared against a database ofknown songs to determine the song that is present in the detected soundpattern. In process step 558, metadata for the song is retrieved. Themetadata may include, but is not limited to, song title, song artist,year of release, genre, composer, album name, and occasion category. Theoccasion category may include a list of appropriate occasions for thissong. Example occasions can include birthday, Christmas, graduation,achievement, sports victories, sports defeats, motivation, comfort, andthe like. In process step 560, a visual effect is selected based onmetadata of the detected song. In process step 562, the visual effect ispresented to the user. If the user selects an option to use the effect,the effect is applied in process step 564. Thus, in embodiments,detecting a sound pattern comprises detecting music. Furthermore,embodiments include performing a song detection process on the music todetect a song title (or other identifier), and where selecting a visualeffect from a plurality of visual effects in a visual effects librarycomprises performing a query of the visual effects library usingmetadata derived from the song title (or other identifier). In someembodiments, the visual effects that a user ends up selecting are storedin a selection database at process step 566. The selection database canbe part of a cognitive learning system. In embodiments, the database maybe stored within the sound analysis system. Each time a visual effect isselected based on a given audio input, a point may be added to a tablein the database. The next time a similar audio input is provided, visualeffects with the highest point total are presented to the user. In thisway, the system can learn over time which visual effects are mostappropriate for a given audio input such as a song or spoken speech.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram 600 for a system in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. A client 610 and client 612 areconfigured to communicate with each other via network 624. Inembodiments, network 624 includes the Internet. A sound analysis system616 is a computer system also connected to network 624. Sound analysissystem 616 includes a processor 640, a memory 642, and storage 644. Thememory 642 may include RAM, ROM, Flash, or the like. The memory 642contains instructions, that when executed by processor 640, may performfunctions of some embodiments of the present invention. A visual effectslibrary 614 is also accessible via network 624. In some embodiments, thevisual effects library 614 may instead be stored within storage 644 ofthe sound analysis system 616. In some embodiments, the visual effectslibrary 614 may be distributed among both internal memory (in thecomputer system) and external storage.

In usage of disclosed embodiments, client 610 and client 612 maycommunicate with each other using a video chat program. Each clientdevice may be similar to the device described in FIG. 1. In embodiments,the client devices may be smartphones, tablet computers, laptopcomputers, desktop computers, or the like, equipped with webcams.

In some embodiments, a microphone within client device 610 detectsambient sound, and sends a sample of that sound to the sound analysissystem 616 via network 624. In some embodiments, the sound sample may becompressed prior to transmission. In some embodiments, the sound samplemay be compressed with a lossy compression scheme such as MP3. In otherembodiments, the sample may be compressed via a lossless compressionscheme such as a Lempel-Ziv variant and/or Huffman coding techniques. Inother embodiments, the sample may be transmitted as uncompressed PCMdata. In some embodiments, the sample may be sent via TCP/IP, UDP, orother suitable transmission protocols. The sound analysis computer, uponreceiving the sound sample, may perform one or more processing steps toperform a song identification of the sample.

The processing may include performing a spectral analysis to determineintensities at various frequency ranges. In some embodiments, thespectral analysis determines frequency intensity at frequencies rangingfrom 100 Hz to 10 kHz in 100 Hz increments. In some embodiments, aDiscrete Fourier Transform (DFT) may be performed as part of thespectral analysis. In some embodiments a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)process is used. In some cases, windowing may be performed as part ofthe DFT process. In embodiments, a Hamming window is used for thewindowing. In other embodiments, a Blackman window is used for thewindowing. Other windows may be used as appropriate to analyze thesignal while minimizing artifacts due to spectral leakage. The spectralanalysis may be used as part of a recording fingerprint. In addition, atempo analysis may instead or also be performed on the music aspreviously described. In order to identify the music, the sound analysiscomputer 616 may first identify a subset of stored acoustic fingerprintshaving a tempo in the range of the recording fingerprint. Then, thespectral components of the recording fingerprint are compared tofingerprints stored in the sound analysis computer. When a storedfingerprint is deemed to match, its associated metadata is retrieved,such as song title, artist, and the like. Based on the metadata, one ormore relevant visual effects are identified within visual effectslibrary 614, and a list of the relevant effects can be sent to clients610 and 612 for presentation to a user for selection. While theaforementioned example illustrated processing occurring on the soundanalysis system 616, in other embodiments, some or all of thisprocessing may occur on the client devices 610 and 612. While twoclients are shown in the figure, in implementations, more or fewer maybe included.

FIG. 7A is an example 700 illustrating presentation of effects based ona speech detection process. In the example, a user interface 707includes an image frame 701 that is shown with a face 702 of a usershown within it. The user is uttering speech 704, which is detected bymicrophone 708. While microphone 708 is illustrated as an externalmicrophone, in practice, the microphone may be integrated into theuser's device (e.g., tablet or smartphone) such as is shown in FIG. 1. Aspeech-to-text process converts the utterance to text and identifies theword “Easter” 706 as a keyword. A visual effects library is thensearched, and two effects deemed relevant are presented. The visualeffects, bunny ears 712, and Easter basket 710, are presented to theuser below the image frame 701. The user can select (e.g., by touch,click, or other method) one of the visual effects to be applied. Thus,embodiments include presenting the visual effect as a selectable optionin a user interface on the computing device.

FIG. 7B is an example 703 showing application of an effect presented inFIG. 7A. In the example, the user selected the bunny ears 712. The bunnyears are then rendered as 732 and included in the image frame 705 on theface 702 of the user. The bunny ears 732 may be rendered as an image inan RGB format or other suitable image format, and then composited ontothe image captured by the camera of the user's device. In someembodiments, an alpha blending algorithm may be used to adjust thetransparency of the visual effect (in this case, the bunny ears 732). Insome embodiments, the transparency may be zero, such that the visualeffect appears solid. In embodiments, facial tracking may be used sothat the visual effect can track the movement of the face 702. Thus, asthe user moves, the bunny ears appear to “stay on” the user's head. Inembodiments, the image of the face 702 combined with the visual effect732 is transmitted from a first client to a second client. Thus,referring again to FIG. 6, the user of client 610 may select a visualeffect such as the bunny ears, and then the image of the face combinedwith the bunny ears is transmitted to client 612 via network 624. Thus,the user of client 612 sees the image as shown in FIG. 7B. The visualeffect 712 is considered as an overlay effect since it is applied overthe images captured by the camera of the user's device. Thus, inembodiments, selecting a visual effect comprises selecting an overlay.

FIG. 8 is an example 800 illustrating presentation of effects based on amusic tempo detection process. In the example, an image frame 801 isshown (e.g. rendered on a screen of an electronic device) with a face802 of a user shown within it. In embodiments, an external speaker 838is outputting music 836. External speaker 838 may be from a nearbytelevision, radio, stereo, or the like. The music 836 is detected bymicrophone 808. While microphone 808 is illustrated as an externalmicrophone, in practice, the microphone may be integrated into theuser's device (e.g., tablet or smartphone). A tempo detection process isperformed on the music and a time interval T is identified between beatsof the music to derive a beats per minute (bpm) value for the music.When the tempo is detected to be above a predetermined threshold (e.g.130 bpm), then a visual effect 840 of dancing stick figures may beapplied above face 802. In some embodiments, the visual effect 840 mayremain within image frame 801 for a predetermined time after the music836 stops. For example, in some embodiments, the visual effect 840 maycontinue to be presented for 30 seconds after the music stops. In someembodiments, the time duration that the visual effect continues to bepresented after the music has stopped is configurable by a user. Thevisual effect 840 is considered as an overlay effect since it is appliedover the images captured by the camera of the user's device. Thus, inembodiments, selecting a visual effect comprises selecting an overlay.

FIG. 9A is an example 900 illustrating presentation of effects based ona song identification process. In the example, a user interface 907includes an image frame 901 that is shown with a face 902 of a usershown within it. In embodiments, an external speaker 938 is outputtingmusic 944. External speaker 938 may be from a nearby television, radio,stereo, or the like. The music 944 is detected by microphone 908. Whilemicrophone 908 is illustrated as an external microphone, in practice,the microphone may be integrated into the user's device (e.g., tablet orsmartphone). A song detection process detects a song based on a recordedsample from microphone 908. Based on the metadata of the song, twoeffects are shown. Visual effect 910 is a hat, and visual effect 912 isbig eyes. The visual effect 910 is considered as an overlay effect sinceit is applied over the images captured by the camera of the user'sdevice. The visual effect 912 is considered as a facial featuremodification since it modifies a facial feature of a face detectedwithin the images captured by the camera of the user's device. Inembodiments, a reason field 961 may be displayed. The reason fieldconveys an explanation of a reason why the particular visual effects(910 and 912) were presented. In this way, if a user is presented with avisual effect that she likes, she can associate it with a particularsong. Then, if she wants that same visual effect at a later time, shecan play the same song to invoke the presentation of that effect.

FIG. 9B is an example 903 showing application of an effect presented inFIG. 9A. In the example, the user selected the big eyes 912. When thatvisual effect is applied, the user's eyes are shown in an exaggeratedsize (compare eyes 954 of FIG. 9B with eyes 952 of FIG. 9A). Inembodiments, facial tracking may be used so that the visual effect cantrack the movement of the face 902 within image frame 904. Inembodiments, various facial features of the face 902 may be identifiedand tracked. These facial features may include, but are not limited to,nose, eyes, eyebrows, cheeks, mouth, ears, and hair. In embodiments, thefacial feature recognition may utilize a variety of image processingtechniques such as edge detection, gradient processing, and landmarkdetection. Landmark detection may include, but is not limited to, mouthcorner detection and eye corner detection. A bounding box may be used toprocess portions of a face. A color analysis may be used to identifyfeatures of differing colors such as lips and eyes. In embodiments,machine learning algorithms such as supervised learning with imageclassifiers may be used in detection of the facial features.

By utilizing facial tracking, as the user moves, the big eyes 954 appearto stay in place on the user's face 902. In embodiments, the image ofthe face 902 combined with the visual effect of the big eyes 954 istransmitted from a first client to a second client. Thus, referringagain to FIG. 6, the user of client 610 may select a visual effect suchas the big eyes, and then the image of the face with the facial featuremodification of the big eyes is transmitted to client 612 via network624. Thus, the user of client 612 sees the image as shown in FIG. 9B. Asstated previously, the visual effect 912 is considered as a facialfeature modification since it modifies a facial feature of a facedetected within the images captured by the camera of the user's device.Thus, embodiments include selecting a visual effect by selecting afacial feature modification.

The visual effects described above are only exemplary, and many otheroverlay and facial feature modification visual effects are possible.Example overlay visual effects may include, but are not limited to,animal ears, animal nose, animal mouth, hair, hats, eyeglasses, emojisymbols, necklaces, tears, teeth, and headbands, to name a few. Examplefacial feature modification visual effects may include, but are notlimited to, big eyes, small eyes, enlarged teeth, alteration of faceshape, and the like. Additionally, other visual effects are possible,including overall image effects such as changing colors, converting animage to grayscale, and/or removing parts of the background of an image.Other visual effects are possible. These visual effects can be stored ina visual effects library such as shown at 614 in FIG. 6.

As can now be appreciated, embodiments of the present invention providetechniques for suggesting a visual effect based on detected sounds. Thesounds can be speech and/or music. Tempo and song identificationtechniques may be used to determine criteria for selecting visualeffects to suggest. The user selects a visual effect from the suggestedvisual effects and applies the visual effect to an image acquired by acamera. A modified image that combines the original acquired image withthe visual effect is transmitted to another user during communicationsuch as video chat, or alternatively, the modified image may be postedto a social media site such as Instagram™, Snapchat™, Facebook™, or thelike. The images can be still images such as digital photographs, orvideos. Thus, disclosed embodiments provide a convenient and fun way forusers to customize their images for sharing.

Some of the functional components described in this specification havebeen labeled as systems or units in order to more particularly emphasizetheir implementation independence. For example, a system or unit may beimplemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom VLSI circuits orgate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips,transistors, or other discrete components. A system or unit may also beimplemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmablegate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices, orthe like. A system or unit may also be implemented in software forexecution by various types of processors. A system or unit or componentof executable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical orlogical blocks of computer instructions, which may, for instance, beorganized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, theexecutables of an identified system or unit need not be physicallylocated together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored indifferent locations which, when joined logically together, comprise thesystem or unit and achieve the stated purpose for the system or unit.

Further, a system or unit of executable code could be a singleinstruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed overseveral different code segments, among different programs, and acrossseveral memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identifiedand illustrated herein within modules, and may be embodied in anysuitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure.The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may bedistributed over different locations including over different storagedevices and disparate memory devices.

Furthermore, systems/units may also be implemented as a combination ofsoftware and one or more hardware devices. For instance, locationdetermination and alert message and/or coupon rendering may be embodiedin the combination of a software executable code stored on a memorymedium (e.g., memory storage device). In a further example, a system orunit may be the combination of a processor that operates on a set ofoperational data.

As noted above, some of the embodiments may be embodied in hardware. Thehardware may be referenced as a hardware element. In general, a hardwareelement may refer to any hardware structures arranged to perform certainoperations. In one embodiment, for example, the hardware elements mayinclude any analog or digital electrical or electronic elementsfabricated on a substrate. The fabrication may be performed usingsilicon-based integrated circuit (IC) techniques, such as complementarymetal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), bipolar, and bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS)techniques, for example. Examples of hardware elements may includeprocessors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g.,transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integratedcircuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmablelogic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmablegate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers, semiconductor devices, chips,microchips, chip sets, and so forth. However, the embodiments are notlimited in this context.

Also noted above, some embodiments may be embodied in software. Thesoftware may be referenced as a software element. In general, a softwareelement may refer to any software structures arranged to perform certainoperations. In one embodiment, for example, the software elements mayinclude program instructions and/or data adapted for execution by ahardware element, such as a processor. Program instructions may includean organized list of commands comprising words, values, or symbolsarranged in a predetermined syntax that, when executed, may cause aprocessor to perform a corresponding set of operations.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, may be non-transitory,and thus is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, suchas radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves,electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or othertransmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-opticcable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device. Program data may also bereceived via the network adapter or network interface.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofembodiments of the present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of embodiments of the present invention.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a computer, or other programmable data processing apparatusto produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computerreadable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readablestorage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable dataprocessing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the computer readable storage medium havinginstructions stored therein comprises an article of manufactureincluding instructions which implement aspects of the function/actspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

While the disclosure outlines exemplary embodiments, it will beappreciated that variations and modifications will occur to thoseskilled in the art. For example, although the illustrative embodimentsare described herein as a series of acts or events, it will beappreciated that the present invention is not limited by the illustratedordering of such acts or events unless specifically stated. Some actsmay occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts orevents apart from those illustrated and/or described herein, inaccordance with the invention. In addition, not all illustrated stepsmay be required to implement a methodology in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. Furthermore, the methods accordingto embodiments of the present invention may be implemented inassociation with the formation and/or processing of structuresillustrated and described herein as well as in association with otherstructures not illustrated. Moreover, in particular regard to thevarious functions performed by the above described components(assemblies, devices, circuits, etc.), the terms used to describe suchcomponents are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, toany component which performs the specified function of the describedcomponent (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though notstructurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs thefunction in the herein illustrated exemplary embodiments of theinvention. In addition, while a particular feature of embodiments of theinvention may have been disclosed with respect to only one of severalembodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more features ofthe other embodiments as may be desired and advantageous for any givenor particular application. Therefore, it is to be understood that theappended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changesthat fall within the true spirit of embodiments of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for providing asuggested visual effect based on a detected sound pattern, comprising:receiving a first sound signal from a microphone coupled to a computingdevice; detecting a sound pattern within the first sound signal;selecting, based on the detected sound pattern, a visual effect from aplurality of visual effects in a visual effects library; presenting thevisual effect as a selectable option in a user interface on thecomputing device; assigning, in response to the selection, a point tothe visual effect in a database table; receiving a second sound signalsimilar to the first sound signal; and presenting the visual effect as aselectable option if the visual effect has a high point total ascompared to point totals associated with other visual effects.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein detecting a sound pattern comprises detectinghuman speech.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: performing aspeech-to text-process on the human speech to derive a text string;extracting keywords from the text string; and wherein the selecting thevisual effect from the plurality of visual effects in the visual effectslibrary comprises performing a query of the visual effects library usingthe extracted keywords.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting asound pattern comprises detecting music.
 5. The method of claim 4,further comprising: performing a tempo detection process on the music todetect a tempo; and wherein the selecting the visual effect from theplurality of visual effects in the visual effects library comprisesperforming a query of the visual effects library using the detectedtempo.
 6. The method of claim 4, further comprising: performing a songdetection process on the music to detect a song title; and whereinselecting a visual effect from a plurality of visual effects in a visualeffects library comprises performing a query of the visual effectslibrary using metadata derived from the song title.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the metadata includes the song title.
 8. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the metadata includes an occasion category.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein selecting a visual effect comprises selectingan overlay.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting a visual effectcomprises selecting a facial feature modification.
 11. A computer systemcomprising: a processor; a microphone; a camera; a memory coupled to theprocessor, the memory containing instructions, that when executed by theprocessor, perform the steps of: receiving a first sound signal from amicrophone coupled to a computing device; detecting a sound patternwithin the first sound signal; selecting, based on the detected soundpattern, a visual effect from a plurality of visual effects in a visualeffects library; presenting the visual effect as a selectable option ina user interface on the computing device; applying the visual effect toan image obtained by the camera upon selection of the presented visualeffect; assigning, in response to the selection, a point to the visualeffect in a database table; receiving a second sound signal similar tothe first sound signal; and presenting the visual effect as a selectableoption if the visual effect has a high point total as compared to pointtotals associated with other visual effects.
 12. The system of claim 11,wherein the memory further contains instructions, that when executed bythe processor, perform the step of detecting human speech within thesound pattern.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the memory furthercontains instructions, that when executed by the processor, perform thesteps of: performing a speech-to-text process on the human speech toderive a text string; extracting keywords from the text string; andwherein the selecting the visual effect from the plurality of visualeffects in the visual effects library comprises performing a query ofthe visual effects library using the extracted keywords.
 14. The systemof claim 11, wherein the memory further contains instructions, that whenexecuted by the processor, perform the step of detecting human musicwithin the sound pattern.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the memoryfurther contains instructions, that when executed by the processor,perform the steps of: performing a tempo detection process on the musicto detect a tempo; and wherein the selecting the visual effect from theplurality of visual effects in the visual effects library comprisesperforming a query of the visual effects library using the detectedtempo.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein the memory further containsinstructions, that when executed by the processor, perform the steps of:performing a song detection process on the music to detect a song title;and wherein the selecting a visual effect from the plurality of visualeffects in the visual effects library cmprises performing a query of thevisual effects library using metadata derived from the song title.
 17. Acomputer program product for providing a suggested visual effect basedon a detected sound pattern for an electronic computing devicecomprising a computer readable storage medium having programinstructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable bya processor to cause the electronic device to: receive a first soundsignal from a microphone coupled to a computing device; detect a soundpattern within the first sound signal; select, based on the detectedsound pattern, a visual effect from a plurality of visual effects in avisual effects library; present the visual effect as a selectable optionin a user interface on the computing device; assign, in response to theselection, a point to the visual effect in a database table; receive asecond sound signal similar to the first sound signal; and present thevisual effect as a selectable option if the visual effect has a highpoint total as compared to point totals associated with other visualeffects.
 18. The computer program product of claim 17, furthercomprising program instructions executable by the processor to cause theelectronic device to: detect human speech within the sound pattern;perform a speech-to-text process on the human speech to derive a textstring; extract keywords from the text string; and perform the selectionof the visual effect from the plurality of visual effects in the visualeffects library by performing a query of the visual effects libraryusing the extracted keywords.
 19. The computer program product of claim17, further comprising program instructions executable by the processorto cause the electronic device to: detect music within the soundpattern; perform a tempo detection process on the music to detect atempo; and perform the selection of the visual effect from the pluralityof visual effects in the visual effects library by performing a query ofthe visual effects library using the detected tempo.
 20. The computerprogram product of claim 17, further comprising program instructionsexecutable by the processor to cause the electronic device to: detectmusic within the sound pattern; perform a song detection process on themusic to detect a song title; and perform the selection of the visualeffect from the plurality of visual effects in the visual effectslibrary by performing a query of the visual effects library usingmetadata derived from the song title.